WORCESTER — Roberta I. Blute of Shrewsbury, a former state Senate candidate and wife of onetime Republican U.S. Rep. Peter I. Blute, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to two counts of filing false federal tax returns.

The grand jury indictment, unsealed today, charges Mrs. Blute, 55, a longtime health care executive, with not reporting more than $500,000 in income from various health care industry jobs in 2007 and 2008.

Mrs. Blute, known as Robi, was led into federal court by U.S. marshals Thursday. Her hands were in handcuffs behind her back. She had been arrested earlier after turning herself in to U.S. marshals.

Following a 30-minute hearing before Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessey, Mrs. Blute was released on personal recognizance with the condition that she report to court officials if she travels out of state, which she said she does routinely for work and family reasons.

She was also ordered to surrender her passport and not drink excessive amounts of alcohol.

Mrs. Blute and her lawyer, Ben Clements of Boston, declined to comment after the hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda P. Strachan said Mrs. Blute faces, if convicted, a maximum sentence of 3 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a year of supervised release.

She would also be required to pay the back taxes she is charged with evading by failing to report the income.

The first count of the indictment charges Mrs. Blute with reporting on her 2007 federal tax return total income of $79,289 from Credit Bureau Collection Services, but not reporting at least $88,517 from Kindred Healthcare; $75,864 from Principal Healthcare Inc./Focus Care Inc.; $11,836 from entities associated with CCS Companies and $21,600 from Case Management Associates.

The second count charges her with reporting on her 2008 federal return $60,884 from CBCS, but failing to report $84,735 from Kindred Healthcare; $47,689 from Hospital Corp. of America Management Services, LP; $57,300; and $33,500 from Peak Health Consultants Inc., and $4,384 from CCS.

A colorful figure known for her sometimes blunt public comments, Mrs. Blute lost her 2004 state Senate race to former state Sen. Edward M. Augustus, a Worcester Democrat.

She hotly defended her husband after he lost his job as executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority after a "booze cruise" in Boston Harbor in 1999.

Mr. Blute served two terms in Congress, from 1993 to 1997, losing a 1996 re-election effort to U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester. Mr. Blute was later a Worcester radio talk show host and in 2011 served as deputy chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

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